Great news. I got the impression that those working on the show didn't even expect to get a 5th season - the season 4 finale seemed designed to effectively wrap things up just in case it ended up being a series finale.

I liked the first three seasons, but season four was bad enough that they probably should have cancelled it. Entire episodes would go by without a single decent joke and established characterization was abandoned for the sake of filler side-plots.

What humor there is left in it is now the standard sitcom "LOL, character X is fat/old/dumb/crazy!" except with tiresome meme references sprinkled through.

Here's the current tally (Nevermind the January 4 publish date, it was updated today). 1 page per network (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW in that order). Points of Interest:

Ding dong, the Whitney is dead.Grey's Anatomy shambles on.CSI: NY is DOA (meaning we're down to the original recipe.)Rules of Engagement is gone, freeing up Patrick Warburton to reboot The Tick.Two and a Half Men somehow is renewed, despite no longer having Angus T. Steakflower.The CW has an awful lot of renewals for being the 5th place network. Everything you think would be is renewed except for 90210.

I'm beginning to think that you people do it on purpose. Nobody is that consistently stupid. Are they?

Amen. This one was particularly bad because its following three words still had a valid parse: "NBC realizes it is only surviving show ...", which could be validly continued with something like, "...business because of X". It's not until four words later with the word "is" that the original parse becomes ungrammatical, resulting in you having to backtrack to understand the meaning under a different parse.

This stuttering when reading is really annoying and confuses me until I re-read it a few times. Yes, Adolf and I are grammar Nazis, but here our point is especially strong.

marcre3363:I loved that show. There was unmatched brilliance in a number of the plotlines.

This season? Meh. I've watched and I try to care. But it's gone so far off the rails that it's hard to care.Every episode is worst than the previous.

As bad as "The Office" has been, the last few episodes have turned around to where they're fun again (minus the Andy storyline's). But Community has just been in a downward spiral.

Here's to hoping they can recapture some of the previous magic.

HotWingAgenda:Community was great for three seasons, just like House. And just like House, the plots started sucking after that.

The issue with both of those posts, I think, boils down to the fact that the show's creator and showrunner Dan Harmon was fired by Sony after last season for being an abrasive dick. But, as a viewer of the show and not someone who had to deal with Harmon on a regular basis, I knew this was bad news, so in spite of "Community" having been one of my favorite shows ever, I didn't watch this season.

I would love so farking much if Harmon could give some kind of mea culpa to Sony (or whomever) and he could finish out his own show the way he'd like, but I'm fairly certain that's not ever going to happen.

NotEric:I'm sad to see Vegas cancelled. Only new show I liked this season after realizing The Following isn't very good.

Yeah, the Following is an odd show. It has some great acting, it's competently shot, scored and edited, it has good production values... it's almost enough to hide the fact that it's terribly written and nothing makes any kind of sense.

Why? Jeff graduated, there's nothing else going on for any of the other characters. Seasons 1 and 2 were great, 3 was hit-or-miss, and this past season was really lousy, with way too many retread plotlines. It should just fade away gracefully.

Gunther:Yeah, the Following is an odd show. It has some great acting, it's competently shot, scored and edited, it has good production values... it's almost enough to hide the fact that it's terribly written and nothing makes any kind of sense.

Why does Kevin Bacon's character have to singlehandedly resolve each and every murder plot (usually by shooting the suspect)? I assume they paid a lot for Bacon and want to get their money's worth but what the hell is the rest of the FBI doing?

It would be great to see a new network series that doesn't feel the need to be episodic in nature.

Part of the problem with this season was that they half expected for Chevy Chase to do what he ended up doing in rage quitting the show, and so all of the episodes are written so it wouldn't be the end of the world if Chevy up and quit. Even the episodes while he's there, you can tell it's written so that Pierce doesn't matter to the broader plot and it killed the dynamic.

It's also pretty darn clear that the final episode was filmed early on in the season for that reason.

It'll be interesting to see how things work out next season when the show isn't being written around the possibility of Chevy up and quitting.

I loves me some Community. Seasons one and two were gold, and three was okay(like a poster above said). I liked four for what it was, but it wasn't great. Britta and Troy so, so didn't work. Nor does the Jeff and Annie thing. Jeff and Britta all the way. Needs more Abed and Troy. Shirley is useless, and although I understand why, Pierce was way underutilized. The Chang subplot was super-weak. I'd have rather Chang had no co-conspirator. Would have preferred there be no one on the other end of the phone, making Chang just flat out nuts.

Am I the only one who wishes the darkest timeline was real and actually crossing over?

Bonanza Jellybean:Why? Jeff graduated, there's nothing else going on for any of the other characters. Seasons 1 and 2 were great, 3 was hit-or-miss, and this past season was really lousy, with way too many retread plotlines. It should just fade away gracefully.

/naturally, I will still watch it, if only for Alison Brie

[xaxor.com image 500x750]

She's such a great actress. It's strange watching her play two completely different characters on TV from her Annie Edison on Community to Trudy Campbell on "Mad Men".

IlGreven:Here's the current tally (Nevermind the January 4 publish date, it was updated today). 1 page per network (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CW in that order). Points of Interest:

Ding dong, the Whitney is dead.Grey's Anatomy shambles on.CSI: NY is DOA (meaning we're down to the original recipe.)Rules of Engagement is gone, freeing up Patrick Warburton to reboot The Tick.Two and a Half Men somehow is renewed, despite no longer having Angus T. Steakflower.The CW has an awful lot of renewals for being the 5th place network. Everything you think would be is renewed except for 90210.

I was happily shocked that Whitney was canceled. Two and a Half Men should have ended after Sheen left, and not surprised Rules of Engagement is gone. I like that show, but when a show gets so few episodes each season that a woman is pregnant for 3 years, it's clear there is no intention of making it successful.

The first 3 seasons were filled with some great edgy jokes. Those great gags oft times came with terribly unfunny, mean and confusing shiat like the angry air conditioner repairmen owning the school, ken jeong screaming in people's faces,and the soft mushy crappy season 1 dean.

Dan Harmon WAS a farking abrasive jerk. it shows in his comedic taste.Fark him and his immature authority issues.

I'll GLADLY take Megan Ganz's or Jim Rash's version of Community any day over Harmon's mean spirited bile.

evulc:The first 3 seasons were filled with some great edgy jokes. Those great gags oft times came with terribly unfunny, mean and confusing shiat like the angry air conditioner repairmen owning the school, ken jeong screaming in people's faces,and the soft mushy crappy season 1 dean.

Dan Harmon WAS a farking abrasive jerk. it shows in his comedic taste.Fark him and his immature authority issues.

I'll GLADLY take Megan Ganz's or Jim Rash's version of Community any day over Harmon's mean spirited bile.

I feel you misread Community as mean, but I can see how you could make that read.

I don't see how you can call Community as it stands this season a quality show. Oh well at least you are happy with it, wish I was.

It's really bad this season, and it makes me sad. I haven't seen the first three since watching them originally, I feel like I need to power through them now just to remind myself why I used to like the show.

marcre3363:As bad as "The Office" has been, the last few episodes have turned around to where they're fun again (minus the Andy storyline's). But Community has just been in a downward spiral.

I would've agreed with you on Community until the past few episodes. Granted, that's not a great batting score, but I thought the last half of the season or so were actually rather good. The last episode was probably the only decent season finale the show has ever had.

that said, I'm somewhat in the "cancel it" camp as I'm not entirely sure where they can go with the show.

thegod082:The issue with both of those posts, I think, boils down to the fact that the show's creator and showrunner Dan Harmon was fired by Sony after last season for being an abrasive dick. But, as a viewer of the show and not someone who had to deal with Harmon on a regular basis, I knew this was bad news, so in spite of "Community" having been one of my favorite shows ever, I didn't watch this season.

really, after season 3, I wasn't convinced that a 4th season with Harmon would've been much better than what we actually got. It would've been different, yes, but I still think it would've been a fairly underwhelming season. After the hiatus in season 3, with only about half of the remaining episodes actually being decent, it felt like a really missed opportunity to prove the show's worth.

not really directed at you, but I find it odd how common a complaint is that the current season was just retreading old jokes, ignoring the fact that the paintball plot was rehashed in season 2 and the fake clipshow plot was reused in season 3, etc.

I didn't really notice a big drop off this season. There were a few cringe-y moments, but there were those in other seasons as well. There were also some brilliant moments, and the show was still enjoyable. I've never understood the compulsion of certain fans to identify the exact point at which a show peaks and then start calling for its cancellation as soon as it starts to decline a bit. If you like it, watch it, if you don't, stop watching it. Even the weaker episodes of Community are better than yet another reality show or singing contest.

I would say the drop off was noticeable because it went on for about half the season. But I don't think it was necessarily worse than some of the weaker moments of season 3, it was just bunched up together.

FeedTheCollapse:marcre3363: As bad as "The Office" has been, the last few episodes have turned around to where they're fun again (minus the Andy storyline's). But Community has just been in a downward spiral.

I would've agreed with you on Community until the past few episodes. Granted, that's not a great batting score, but I thought the last half of the season or so were actually rather good. The last episode was probably the only decent season finale the show has ever had.

that said, I'm somewhat in the "cancel it" camp as I'm not entirely sure where they can go with the show.

Jeff comes back as a teacher at Greendale at some point in the season. That's my prediction.

Mugato:Isn't community college 2 years? Oh well, MASH got 11 years out of a 3 year war.

So what about Hannibal??

A lot of community colleges offer four year degrees. Not only is it cheaper for the students, it gives a better quality degree than your average diploma mill and many other local private schools. They have also been getting strong support from the government to do just that, starting in the Bush administration and continuing on into Obama's. Many community college students also work or parent full time, and do not take full loads.

Also, it seems that, excepting Jeff, they have been more concerned with keeping the study group together than aggressively pursuing graduation.

Carth:FeedTheCollapse: marcre3363: As bad as "The Office" has been, the last few episodes have turned around to where they're fun again (minus the Andy storyline's). But Community has just been in a downward spiral.

I would've agreed with you on Community until the past few episodes. Granted, that's not a great batting score, but I thought the last half of the season or so were actually rather good. The last episode was probably the only decent season finale the show has ever had.

that said, I'm somewhat in the "cancel it" camp as I'm not entirely sure where they can go with the show.

Jeff comes back as a teacher at Greendale at some point in the season. That's my prediction.

Brian Fuller gave an interview yesterday and said that NBC told him they wouldn't make a decision this week. The ratings probably shouldn't get it renewed, but it's an international co-production, which means it's a little cheaper than other shows and it might just come down to how cheaply NBC can get it. My guess is that if it comes back it will be as late-April filler or a summer show again.

Brian Fuller gave an interview yesterday and said that NBC told him they wouldn't make a decision this week. The ratings probably shouldn't get it renewed, but it's an international co-production, which means it's a little cheaper than other shows and it might just come down to how cheaply NBC can get it. My guess is that if it comes back it will be as late-April filler or a summer show again.

Hannibal seem really weird to me. the show is good enough but it is strange to see that level of violence in a show but mysteriously no one swears or farks.